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Twelve Prophets, Vol. I, by George Adam Smith
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Title: The Expositor's Bible: The Book of the Twelve Prophets, Vol. I
Commonly Called the Minor
Author: George Adam Smith
Release Date: September 29, 2013 [EBook #43847]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EXPOSITOR'S BIBLE: 12 PROPHETS, VOL I ***
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THE EXPOSITOR'S BIBLE. Edited by Rev.
W. R. NICOLL, D.D., Editor of London Expositor.
1ST SERIES IN 6 VOLS.
MACLAREN, Rev. Alex.—COLOSSIANS—PHILEMON.
DODS, Rev. Marcus.—GENESIS.
CHADWICK, Rev. Dean.—ST. MARK.
BLAIKIE, Rev. W. G.—SAMUEL, 2 VOLS.
EDWARDS, Rev. T. C.—HEBREWS.
2D SERIES IN 6 VOLS.
SMITH, Rev. G. A.—ISAIAH, VOL. I.
ALEXANDER, Bishop.—EPISTLES OF ST. JOHN.
PLUMMER, Rev. A.—PASTORAL EPISTLES.
FINDLAY, Rev. G. G.—GALATIANS.
MILLIGAN, Rev. W.—REVELATION.
DODS, Rev. Marcus.—1ST CORINTHIANS.
3D SERIES IN 6 VOLS.
SMITH, Rev. G. A.—ISAIAH, VOL. II.
GIBSON, Rev. J. M.—ST. MATTHEW.
WATSON, Rev. R. A.—JUDGES—RUTH.
BALL, Rev. C. J.—JEREMIAH. CHAP. I-XX.
CHADWICK, Rev. Dean.—EXODUS.
BURTON, Rev. H.—ST. LUKE.
4TH SERIES IN 6 VOLS.
KELLOGG, Rev. S. H.—LEVITICUS.
STOKES, Rev. G. T.—ACTS, VOL. I.
HORTON, Rev. R. F.—PROVERBS.
DODS, Rev. Marcus.—GOSPEL ST. JOHN, VOL. I.
PLUMMER, Rev. A.—JAMES—JUDE.
COX, Rev. S.—ECCLESIASTES.
5TH SERIES IN 6 VOLS.
DENNEY, Rev. J.—THESSALONIANS.
WATSON, Rev. R. A.—JOB.
MACLAREN, Rev. A.—PSALMS, VOL. I.
STOKES, Rev. G. T.—ACTS, VOL. II.
DODS, Rev. Marcus.—GOSPEL ST. JOHN, VOL. II.
FINDLAY, Rev. C. G.—EPHESIANS.
6TH SERIES IN 6 VOLS.
RAINY, Rev. R.—PHILIPPIANS.
FARRAR, Archdeacon F. W.—1ST KINGS.
BLAIKIE, Rev. W. G.—JOSHUA.
MACLAREN, Rev. A.—PSALMS, VOL. II.
LUMBY, Rev, J. R.—EPISTLES OF ST. PETER.
ADENEY, Rev. W. F.—EZRA—NEHEMIAH—ESTHER.
7TH SERIES IN 6 VOLS.
MOULE, Rev. H. C. G.—ROMANS.
FARRAR, Archdeacon F. W.—2D KINGS.
BENNETT, Rev. W. H.—1ST AND 2D CHRONICLES.
MACLAREN, Rev. A.—PSALMS, VOL. III.
DENNEY, Rev. James.—2D CORINTHIANS.
WATSON Rev. R. A.—NUMBERS.
8TH AND FINAL SERIES IN 7 VOLS.
FARRAR, Archdeacon F. W.—DANIEL.
SKINNER, Rev. John.—EZEKIEL.
BENNETT, Rev. W. H.—JEREMIAH.
HARPER, Rev. Prof.—DEUTERONOMY.
ADENEY, Rev. W. F.—SOLOMON AND LAMENTATIONS.
SMITH, Rev. G. A.—THE MINOR PROPHETS, 2 VOLS.
ABOUT 400 PAGES IN EACH VOLUME. PRICE FOR EITHER SERIES, SIX VOLUMES $6.06. (ORDERS FOR 2 OR MORE SERIES AT SAME RATE
will be sent by Express. prepaid.) (Separate vols. $1.50 postpaid. Descriptive circular sent on application.)
THE BOOK
OF
THE TWELVE PROPHETS
COMMONLY CALLED THE MINOR
BY
GEORGE ADAM SMITH, D.D., LL.D.
PROFESSOR OF HEBREW AND OLD TESTAMENT EXEGESIS
FREE CHURCH COLLEGE, GLASGOW
IN TWO VOLUMES
VOL. I.—AMOS, HOSEA AND MICAH
WITH AN INTRODUCTION AND A SKETCH OF PROPHECY IN EARLY ISRAEL
NEW YORK
A. C. ARMSTRONG AND SON
3 and 5 West Eighteenth Street
London: Hodder and Stoughton
1906
TO
HENRY DRUMMOND
PREFACE
THE PROPHETS, TO WHOM THIS AND A FOLLOWING VOLUME ARE DEDICATED, HAVE, TO OUR LOSS, BEEN HAUNTED FOR CENTURIES BY A
PEDDLING AND AN AMBIGUOUS TITLE. THEIR TWELVE BOOKS ARE IN SIZE SMALLER THAN THOSE OF THE GREAT THREE WHICH PRECEDE
THEM, AND DOUBTLESS NONE OF THEIR CHAPTERS SOAR SO HIGH AS THE BRILLIANT SUMMITS TO WHICH WE ARE SWEPT BY ISAIAH AND THE
PROPHET OF THE EXILE. BUT IN EVERY OTHER RESPECT THEY ARE UNDESERVING OF THE NIGGARDLY NAME OF "MINOR." TWO OF THEM,
Amos and Hosea, were the first of all prophecy—rising cliff-like, with a sheer and magnificent originality, to a height and
A MASS SUFFICIENT TO SET AFTER THEM THE TREND AND SLOPE OF THE WHOLE PROPHETIC RANGE. THE TWELVE TOGETHER COVER THE
EXTENT OF THAT RANGE, AND ILLUSTRATE THE DEVELOPMENT OF PROPHECY AT ALMOST EVERY STAGE FROM THE EIGHTH CENTURY TO THE
FOURTH. YET EVEN MORE THAN IN THE CASE OF ISAIAH OR JEREMIAH, THE CHURCH HAS BEEN CONTENT TO USE A PASSAGE HERE AND A
PASSAGE THERE, LEAVING THE REST OF THE BOOKS TO ABSOLUTE NEGLECT OR THE ALMOST EQUAL OBLIVION OF ROUTINE-READING. AMONG
THE CAUSES OF THIS DISUSE HAVE BEEN THE MORE THAN USUALLY CORRUPT STATE
OF THE TEXT; THE CONSEQUENT DISORDER AND IN PARTS
UNINTELLIGIBLENESS OF ALL THE VERSIONS; THE IGNORANCE OF THE VARIOUS HISTORICAL CIRCUMSTANCES OUT OF WHICH THE BOOKS AROSE;
THE ABSENCE OF SUCCESSFUL EFFORTS TO DETERMINE THE PERIODS AND STROPHES, THE DRAMATIC DIALOGUES (WITH THE NAMES OF THE
speakers), the lyric effusions and the passages of argument, of all of which the books are composed.
The following exposition is an attempt to assist the bettering of all this. As the Twelve Prophets illustrate among them the
WHOLE HISTORY OF WRITTEN PROPHECY, I HAVE THOUGHT IT USEFUL TO PREFIX A HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE PROPHET IN EARLY ISRAEL, OR
AS FAR AS THE APPEARANCE OF AMOS. THE TWELVE ARE THEN TAKEN IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER. UNDER EACH OF THEM A CHAPTER IS
GIVEN OF HISTORICAL AND CRITICAL INTRODUCTION TO HIS BOOK; THEN SOME ACCOUNT OF THE PROPHET HIMSELF AS A MAN AND A SEER;
THEN A COMPLETE TRANSLATION OF THE VARIOUS PROPHECIES HANDED DOWN UNDER HIS NAME, WITH TEXTUAL FOOTNOTES, AND AN
EXPOSITION AND APPLICATION TO THE PRESENT DAY IN HARMONY WITH THE AIM OF THE SERIES TO WHICH THESE VOLUMES BELONG;
FINALLY, A DISCUSSION OF THE MAIN DOCTRINES THE PROPHET HAS TAUGHT, IF IT HAS NOT BEEN FOUND POSSIBLE TO DEAL WITH THESE IN
the course of the exposition.
AN EXACT CRITICAL STUDY OF THE TWELVE PROPHETS IS RENDERED NECESSARY BY THE STATE OF THE ENTIRE TEXT. THE PRESENT VOLUME
IS BASED ON A THOROUGH EXAMINATION OF THIS IN THE LIGHT OF THE ANCIENT VERSIONS AND OF
MODERN CRITICISM. THE EMENDATIONS
WHICH I HAVE PROPOSED ARE FEW AND INSIGNIFICANT, BUT I HAVE EXAMINED AND DISCUSSED IN FOOTNOTES ALL THAT HAVE BEEN
SUGGESTED, AND IN MANY CASES MY TRANSLATION WILL BE FOUND TO DIFFER WIDELY FROM THAT OF THE REVISED VERSION. TO
QUESTIONS OF INTEGRITY AND AUTHENTICITY MORE SPACE IS DEVOTED THAN MAY SEEM TO MANY TO BE NECESSARY. BUT IT IS CERTAIN
THAT THE CRITICISM OF THE PROPHETIC BOOKS HAS NOW ENTERED ON A PERIOD OF THE SAME ANALYSIS AND DISCRIMINATION WHICH IS
ALMOST EXHAUSTED IN THE CASE OF THE PENTATEUCH. SOME HINTS WERE GIVEN OF THIS IN A PREVIOUS VOLUME ON ISAIAH, CHAPTERS
XL.-LXVI., WHICH ARE EVIDENTLY A COMPOSITE WORK. AMONG THE BOOKS NOW BEFORE US, THE SAME FACT HAS LONG BEEN CLEAR IN
THE CASE OF OBADIAH AND ZECHARIAH, AND ALSO SINCE EWALD'S TIME WITH REGARD TO MICAH. BUT DUHM'S
Theology of the
Prophets, WHICH APPEARED IN 1875, SUGGESTED INTERPOLATIONS IN AMOS. WELLHAUSEN (IN 1873) AND STADE (FROM 1883
ONWARDS) CARRIED THE DISCUSSION FURTHER BOTH ON THOSE, AND OTHERS, OF THE TWELVE; WHILE A RECENT WORK BY ANDRÉE ON
HAGGAI PROVES THAT MANY SIMILAR QUESTIONS MAY STILL BE RAISED AND HAVE TO BE DEBATED. THE GENERAL FACT MUST BE
ADMITTED THAT HARDLY ONE BOOK HAS ESCAPED LATER ADDITIONS—ADDITIONS OF AN ENTIRELY JUSTIFIABLE NATURE, WHICH SUPPLEMENT
THE POINT OF VIEW OF A SINGLE PROPHET WITH THE RICHER EXPERIENCE OR THE RIPER HOPES OF A LATER DAY, AND THUS AFFORD TO
OURSELVES A MORE CATHOLIC PRESENTMENT OF THE DOCTRINES OF PROPHECY AND THE DIVINE PURPOSES FOR MANKIND. THIS GENERAL
[Pg vii]
[Pg viii]
[Pg ix]
[Pg x]
FACT, I SAY, MUST BE ADMITTED. BUT THE
QUESTIONS OF DETAIL ARE STILL IN PROCESS OF SOLUTION. IT IS OBVIOUS THAT SETTLED RESULTS
CAN BE REACHED (AS TO SOME EXTENT THEY HAVE BEEN ALREADY REACHED IN THE CRITICISM OF THE PENTATEUCH) ONLY AFTER YEARS OF
RESEARCH AND DEBATE BY ALL SCHOOLS OF CRITICS. MEANTIME IT IS THE DUTY OF EACH OF US TO OFFER HIS OWN CONCLUSIONS, WITH
REGARD TO EVERY SEPARATE PASSAGE, ON THE UNDERSTANDING THAT, HOWEVER FINAL THEY MAY AT PRESENT SEEM TO HIM, THE END IS
NOT YET. IN PREVIOUS CRITICISM THE DEFECTS, OF WHICH WORK IN THE SAME FIELD HAS MADE ME AWARE, ARE FOUR: 1. A TOO RIGID
BELIEF IN THE EXACT PARALLELISM AND SYMMETRY OF THE PROPHETIC STYLE, WHICH I FEEL HAS LED, FOR INSTANCE, WELLHAUSEN, TO
WHOM WE OTHERWISE OWE SO MUCH ON THE TWELVE PROPHETS, INTO MANY UNNECESSARY EMENDATIONS OF THE TEXT, OR, WHERE
SOME AMENDMENT IS NECESSARY, TO ABSOLUTELY UNPROVABLE CHANGES. 2. IN PASSAGES BETWEEN WHICH NO CONNECTION EXISTS,
THE FORGETFULNESS OF THE PRINCIPLE THAT THIS FACT MAY OFTEN BE EXPLAINED AS JUSTLY BY THE HYPOTHESIS OF THE OMISSION OF SOME
WORDS, AS BY THE FAVOURITE THEORY OF THE LATER INTRUSION OF PORTIONS OF THE EXTANT TEXT. 3. FORGETFULNESS OF THE POSSIBILITY,
WHICH IN SOME CASES AMOUNTS ALMOST TO CERTAINTY, OF THE INCORPORATION, AMONG THE AUTHENTIC WORDS OF A PROPHET, OF
PASSAGES OF EARLIER AS WELL AS OF LATER DATE. AND, 4. DEPRECIATION OF THE SPIRITUAL INSIGHT AND FORESIGHT OF PRE-EXILIC WRITERS.
THESE, I AM PERSUADED, ARE DEFECTS IN PREVIOUS CRITICISM OF THE PROPHETS. PROBABLY MY OWN CRITICISM WILL REVEAL MANY
MORE. IN THE BEGINNINGS OF SUCH ANALYSIS AS WE ARE
ENGAGED ON, WE MUST BE PREPARED FOR NOT A LITTLE ARBITRARINESS AND
WANT OF PROPORTION; THESE ARE OFTEN NECESSARY FOR INSIGHT AND FRESH POINTS OF VIEW, BUT THEY ARE AS EASILY ELIMINATED BY
the progress of discussion.
ALL CRITICISM, HOWEVER, IS PRELIMINARY TO THE REAL WORK WHICH THE IMMORTAL PROPHETS DEMAND FROM SCHOLARS AND PREACHERS
IN OUR AGE. IN A REVIEW OF A PREVIOUS VOLUME, I WAS BLAMED FOR APPLYING A PROPHECY OF ISAIAH TO A PROBLEM OF OUR OWN
DAY. THIS WAS CALLED "PROSTITUTING PROPHECY."
The PROSTITUTION OF THE PROPHETS IS THEIR CONFINEMENT TO ACADEMIC USES.
ONE CANNOT CONCEIVE AN ENDING, AT ONCE MORE PATHETIC AND MORE RIDICULOUS, TO THOSE GREAT STREAMS OF LIVING WATER, THAN
TO ALLOW THEM TO RUN OUT IN THE SANDS OF CRITICISM AND EXEGESIS, HOWEVER GOLDEN THESE SANDS MAY BE. THE PROPHETS
SPOKE FOR A PRACTICAL PURPOSE; THEY AIMED AT THE HEARTS OF MEN; AND EVERYTHING THAT SCHOLARSHIP CAN DO FOR THEIR WRITINGS
HAS SURELY FOR ITS FINAL AIM THE ILLUSTRATION OF THEIR WITNESS TO THE WAYS OF GOD WITH MEN, AND ITS APPLICATION TO LIVING
QUESTIONS AND DUTIES AND HOPES. BESIDES, THEREFORE, SEEKING TO TELL THE STORY OF THAT WONDERFUL STAGE IN THE HISTORY OF THE
HUMAN SPIRIT—SURELY NEXT IN WONDER TO THE STORY OF CHRIST HIMSELF—I HAVE NOT FEARED AT EVERY SUITABLE POINT TO APPLY ITS
TRUTHS TO OUR LIVES TO-DAY. THE CIVILISATION IN WHICH PROPHECY FLOURISHED WAS IN ITS ESSENTIALS MARVELLOUSLY LIKE OUR OWN.
TO MARK ONLY ONE POINT, THE RISE OF PROPHECY IN ISRAEL CAME FAST UPON THE PASSAGE OF THE NATION FROM AN AGRICULTURAL TO A
COMMERCIAL BASIS OF SOCIETY, AND UPON THE APPEARANCE OF THE VERY THING WHICH GIVES ITS
NAME TO CIVILISATION—CITY-LIFE,
with its unchanging sins, problems and ideals.
A RECENT DUTCH CRITIC, WHOSE EXACT SCHOLARSHIP IS KNOWN TO ALL READERS OF STADE'S
Journal of Old Testament Science,
HAS SAID OF AMOS AND HOSEA: "THESE PROPHECIES HAVE A WORD OF GOD, AS FOR ALL TIMES, SO ALSO ESPECIALLY FOR OUR OWN.
BEFORE ALL IT IS RELEVANT TO 'THE SOCIAL QUESTION' OF OUR DAY, TO THE RELATION OF RELIGION AND MORALITY.... OFTEN IT HAS BEEN
HARD FOR ME TO REFRAIN FROM EXPRESSLY POINTING OUT THE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THEN AND TO-DAY."
[1] THIS FEELING WILL BE
SHARED BY ALL STUDENTS OF PROPHECY WHOSE MINDS AND CONSCIENCES ARE QUICK; AND I WELCOME THE LIBERAL PLAN OF THE SERIES
IN WHICH THIS VOLUME APPEARS, BECAUSE, WHILE GIVING ROOM FOR THE ADEQUATE DISCUSSION OF CRITICAL AND HISTORICAL QUESTIONS,
ITS CHIEF DESIGN IS TO SHOW THE ETERNAL VALIDITY OF THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE AS THE WORD OF GOD, AND THEIR MEANING FOR
ourselves to-day.
PREVIOUS WORKS ON THE MINOR PROPHETS ARE ALMOST INNUMERABLE. THOSE TO WHICH I OWE MOST WILL BE FOUND INDICATED IN
THE FOOTNOTES. THE TRANSLATION HAS BEEN EXECUTED UPON THE PURPOSE, NOT TO SACRIFICE THE LITERAL MEANING OR EXACT EMPHASIS
OF THE ORIGINAL TO THE FREQUENT POSSIBILITY OF GREATER ELEGANCE. IT REPRODUCES EVERY WORD, WITH THE OCCASIONAL EXCEPTION OF
A COPULA. WITH SOME HESITATION I HAVE RETAINED THE TRADITIONAL SPELLING OF THE DIVINE NAME, JEHOVAH, INSTEAD OF THE MORE
CORRECT JAHVE OR YAHWEH; BUT
WHERE THE RHYTHM OF CERTAIN FAMILIAR PASSAGES WAS DISTURBED BY IT, I HAVE FOLLOWED THE
ENGLISH VERSIONS AND WRITTEN LORD. THE READER WILL KEEP IN MIND THAT A LINE MAY BE DESTROYED BY SUBSTITUTING OUR
PRONUNCIATION OF PROPER NAMES FOR THE MORE MUSICAL ACCENTS OF THE ORIGINAL. THUS, FOR INSTANCE, WE OBLITERATE THE MUSIC
OF "ISRA'EL" BY MAKING IT TWO SYLLABLES AND PUTTING THE ACCENT ON THE FIRST: IT HAS THREE SYLLABLES WITH THE ACCENT ON THE LAST.
WE CRUSH YERUSHALAYÎḾ INTO JERÚSALEM; WE SHRED OFF ASSHÛR INTO ASSYRIA, AND DUB MIṢRAÎḾ EGYPT. HEBREW HAS TOO FEW
of the combinations which sound most musical to our ears, to afford the suppression of any one of them.
CONTENTS OF VOL. I.
[Pg x]
[Pg xi]
[Pg xii]
[Pg xiii]
[Pg xiv]
[Pg xv]
PAGE
PREFACE
vii
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE
1
INTRODUCTION
CHAP.
I.
THE BOOK OF THE TWELVE
3
II.
THE PROPHET IN EARLY ISRAEL
11
1. FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TILL SAMUEL.
2. FROM SAMUEL TO ELISHA.
III.
THE EIGHTH CENTURY IN ISRAEL
31
IV.
THE INFLUENCE OF ASSYRIA UPON PROPHECY
44
AMOS
V.
THE BOOK OF AMOS
61
VI.
THE MAN AND THE PROPHET
73
1. THE MAN AND HIS DISCIPLINE (i. 1; iii. 3-8; vii. 14, 15).
2. THE WORD AND ITS ORIGINS (i. 2; iii. 3-8; and passim).
3. THE PROPHET AND HIS MINISTRY (vii.; viii. 1-4).
VII.
ATROCITIES AND ATROCITIES
121
AMOS i. 3-ii.
VIII.
CIVILISATION AND JUDGMENT
141
AMOS iii.-iv. 3.
IX.
THE FALSE PEACE OF RITUAL
156
AMOS iv. 4-vi.
1. FOR WORSHIP, CHASTISEMENT (iv. 4-13).
2. FOR WORSHIP, JUSTICE (v.).
3. "AT EASE IN ZION" (vi.).
4. A FRAGMENT FROM THE PLAGUE (vi. 9, 10).
X.
DOOM OR DISCIPLINE?
181
AMOS viii. 4-ix.
1. EARTHQUAKE, ECLIPSE AND FAMINE (viii. 4-14).
2. NEMESIS (ix. 1-6).
3. THE VOICES OF ANOTHER DAWN (ix. 7-15).
XI.
COMMON-SENSE AND THE REIGN OF LAW
196
AMOS iii. 3-8; iv. 6-13; v. 8, 9; vi. 12; viii. 8; ix. 5, 6.
HOSEA
XII.
THE BOOK OF HOSEA
211
[Pg xvi]
XIII.
THE PROBLEM THAT AMOS LEFT
227
XIV.
THE STORY OF THE PRODIGAL WIFE
232
HOSEA i.-iii.
XV.
THE THICK NIGHT OF ISRAEL
253
HOSEA iv.-xiv.
XVI.
A PEOPLE IN DECAY: I. MORALLY
255
HOSEA iv.-vii. 7.
1. THE LORD'S QUARREL WITH ISRAEL (iv.).
2. PRIESTS AND PRINCES FAIL (v. 1-14).
3. REPENTANCE FAILS (v. 15-vii. 2).
4. WICKEDNESS IN HIGH PLACES (vii. 3-7).
XVII.
A PEOPLE IN DECAY: II. POLITICALLY
269
HOSEA vii. 8-x.
1. THE CONFUSION OF THE NATION (vii. 8-viii. 3).
2. ARTIFICIAL KINGS AND ARTIFICIAL GODS (viii. 4-13).
3. THE EFFECTS OF EXILE (ix. 1-9).
4. "THE CORRUPTION THAT IS THROUGH LUST" (ix. 10-17).
5. ONCE MORE: PUPPET-KINGS AND PUPPET-GODS (x.).
XVIII.
THE FATHERHOOD AND HUMANITY OF GOD
290
HOSEA xi.
XIX.
THE FINAL ARGUMENT
299
HOSEA xii.-xiv. 1.
1. THE PEOPLE AND THEIR FATHER JACOB (xii.).
2. THE LAST JUDGMENT (xiii.-xiv. 1).
XX.
"I WILL BE AS THE DEW"
308
HOSEA xiv. 2-10.
XXI.
THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD
318
HOSEA passim.
XXII.
REPENTANCE
333
HOSEA passim.
XXIII.
THE SIN AGAINST LOVE
346
HOSEA i.-iii.; iv. 11 ff.; ix. 10 ff.; xi. 8 f.
MICAH
XXIV.
THE BOOK OF MICAH
357
XXV.
MICAH THE MORASTHITE
375
MICAH i.
XXVI.
THE PROPHET OF THE POOR
386
[Pg xvii]
[Pg xviii]
MICAH ii., iii.
XXVII.
ON TIME'S HORIZON
400
MICAH iv. 1-7.
XXVIII.
THE KING TO COME
408
MICAH iv. 8-v.
XXIX.
THE REASONABLENESS OF TRUE RELIGION
419
MICAH vi. 1-8.
XXX.
THE SIN OF THE SCANT MEASURE
426
MICAH vi. 9-vii. 6.
XXXI.
OUR MOTHER OF SORROWS
435
MICAH vii. 7-20.
INDEX OF PASSAGES AND TEXTS
439
CHRONOLOGY OF THE DOUBLE KINGDOM OF ISRAEL, c. 940-639 B.C.
*** c. = circa: it refers only to the accession of the kings of Judah and Israel; the years are exact so far as they concern
the Assyrian data. A date opposite the mere name of a king signifies the year of his accession.
JUDAH.
ISRAEL.
THE
PROPHETS.
SYRIA, ETC.
ASSYRIA.
940
c.
Disruption of the Kingdom.
Rehoboam.
Jeroboam I.
Establishment of calf images in
N. Israel.
923
c.
Abijam.
920
c.
Asa.
918
c.
...
Nadab.
915
c.
...
Baasha.
891
c.
...
Elah.
888
c.
...
Zimri. Omri.
876
c.
...
Ahab.
Revolt of Mesha of Moab: the Moabite Stone
(circa 860).
874
c.
Jehoshaphat.
...
Elijah.
854
...
First contact of Israel
. . .
and Syria with Assyria at the Battle of Ḳarḳar.
854
853
c.
...
Ahaziah.
852
c.
...
Joram. Invades Moab with
Judah and Edom.
850
...
...
...
Campaigns in all these 3 yrs by Shalmaneser II. of Assyria against Dadidri or
Hadadezer of Damascus.
850
849
c.
Jehoram.
...
...
849
846
...
...
...
Revolt of Edom from Judah (2 Kings viii. 20
ff.).
846
844
c.
Ahaziah.
842
c.
Athaliah.
Jehu.
Elisha.
...
Tribute from Jehu.
842
...
...
...
...
War of Hazael with Assyria.
...
839
...
...
...
War of Hazael with Assyria.
839
836
c.
Joash.
...
...
Hazael subdues Gilead (Amos i. 3); attacks
Gath, but is bought off from Jerusalem.
...
836
814
c.
...
Jehoahaz.
...
...
814
812
...
...
...
...
Accession of Ramman-Nirari.
812
806
...
...
...
Arpad, campaign against, by Assyria.
806
803
...
...
...
Damascus, under Meri, besieged and taken by Assyria.
A year of pestilence.
803
798
c.
...
Joash.
[Pg xix]
797
c.
Amaziah.
783
c.
...
Jeroboam II.
...
...
Shalmaneser III.
783
778
c.
Uzziah
(Azariah).
775
...
Jeroboam re-conquers Moab,
Gilead, and part of Aram.
...
...
Expedition to Cedar Country.
775
773
...
...
Damascus, campaign against, by Assyria.
773
772
...
...
Hadrach, campaign against, by Assyria.
772
765
...
...
A pestilence.
Accession of Assur-dan-il.
765
763
Total eclipse of the sun on June 15th visible in Syria and at Nineveh.
763
759
...
...
...
A pestilence in Western Asia.
...
759
755
...
...
...
Hadrach suffers attack from Assyria.
755
754
...
...
Amos.
Arpad suffers attack from Assyria.
754
753
...
...
...
...
Accession of Assur-Nirari.
753
745
...
...
...
...
Accession of Tiglath-Pileser III.
745
743
...
Zechariah, son of Jeroboam (6
mo.).
Shallum (1 mo.).
Menahem.
...
Arpad besieged, and after two or three years taken by Assyria.
743
742
...
...
...
742
741
...
...
Hosea.
741
740
736?
"The year King
Uzziah died."
Jotham sole
ruler.
...
738
...
Menahem is
. . .
mentioned as tributary to Assyria.
738
737
c.
...
Pekahiah.
736
c.
Ahaz.
Pekah, the Gileadite.
735
Ahaz is attacked both by Pekah and
. . .
by Rezin of Damascus (Isa. vii.).
...
735
734
...
Captivity of Gilead, Galilee,
etc.,
. . .
. . .
by Assyria (Isa. viii., ix.).
734
733
...
...
...
Damascus besieged and taken by Assyria.
733
732
Ahaz pays
homage
. . .
. . .
at Damascus to the King of Assyria.
732
731
...
...
...
...
Tiglath-Pileser becomes King of
Babylon under the name of Pul.
731
730
c.
...
Hoshea.
727
c.
Hezekiah.
...
Isaiah.
...
Shalmaneser IV.
727
725
...
Siege of Samaria begins.
722
or 1
...
Fall of Samaria.
...
...
Sargon takes Samaria.
722
or 1
720
or
19
...
...
...
Gaza overthrown by Sargon as he marches past Judah and defeats Egypt at Raphia.
720
or
19
715
...
Samaria peopled
. . .
. . .
by subjugated tribes deported from
Assyria.
715
711
...
...
...
Ashdod taken by . . .
Sargon.
711
709
...
...
...
...
Sargon takes Babylon from
Merodach-Baladan.
709
705
...
...
Micah.
...
Death of Sargon.
705
704
...
...
...
...
War with Merodach-Baladan.
704
701
Invasion of Judah . . .
Deliverance of Jerusalem.
. . .
and of all Syria . . .
Siege of Ekron. Battle of Eltekeh.
by Sennacherib.
701
695
c.[2]
Manasseh.
...
Asarhaddon succeeds.
681
...
...
...
...
Sennacherib murdered.
681
678
...
...
...
Phœnicia subdued by
Asarhaddon.
678
676
Manasseh
tributary to . . .
. . .
. . .
Assyria.
676
671
...
...
...
Tyre taken by . . .
Asarhaddon on his march to
Egypt and conquest of Memphis.
671
668
...
...
...
...
Assurbanipal.
668
666
Manasseh
and the
. . .
other Syrian kings . . .
tributary to Assyria.
666
641
c.
Amon.
...
...
Tyre assists . . .
the Phœnician Arvad.
Assurbanipal against
641
639
c.
Josiah.
INTRODUCTION
Καὶ τῶν ιβ' προφητῶν τὰ ὀστᾶ
ἀναθάλοι ἐκ τοῦ τόπου αὐτῶν,
Παρεκάλεσαν δὲ τὸν Ἰακώβ
καὶ ἐλυτρώσαντο αὐτοὺς ἐυ πίστει ἐλπίδος.
And of the Twelve Prophets may the bones
Flourish again from their place,
For they comforted Jacob
And redeemed them by the assurance of hope.
ECCLESIASTICUS xlix. 10.
[Pg 1]
[Pg 2]
CHAPTER I
THE BOOK OF THE TWELVE
IN THE ORDER OF OUR ENGLISH BIBLE THE MINOR PROPHETS, AS THEY ARE USUALLY CALLED, FORM THE LAST TWELVE BOOKS OF THE OLD
TESTAMENT. THEY ARE IMMEDIATELY PRECEDED BY DANIEL, AND BEFORE HIM BY THE THREE MAJOR PROPHETS, ISAIAH, JEREMIAH
(WITH LAMENTATIONS) AND EZEKIEL. WHY ALL SIXTEEN WERE THUS GATHERED AT THE END OF THE OTHER SACRED BOOKS, WE DO NOT
KNOW. PERHAPS, BECAUSE IT WAS HELD FITTING THAT PROPHECY SHOULD OCCUPY THE LAST OUTPOSTS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT TOWARDS
the New.
IN THE HEBREW BIBLE, HOWEVER, THE ORDER DIFFERS, AND IS MUCH MORE SIGNIFICANT. THE PROPHETS
[3] FORM THE SECOND DIVISION
OF THE THREEFOLD CANON: LAW, PROPHETS AND WRITINGS; AND DANIEL IS NOT AMONG THEM. THE MINOR FOLLOW IMMEDIATELY AFTER
EZEKIEL. MOREOVER, THEY ARE NOT TWELVE BOOKS, BUT ONE. THEY ARE GATHERED UNDER THE COMMON TITLE
Book of the
Twelve;[4] AND ALTHOUGH EACH OF THEM HAS THE USUAL COLOPHON DETAILING THE NUMBER OF ITS OWN VERSES, THERE IS ALSO
ONE
COLOPHON FOR ALL THE TWELVE, PLACED AT THE END OF MALACHI AND RECKONING THE SUM OF THEIR VERSES FROM THE FIRST OF HOSEA
ONWARDS. THIS UNITY, WHICH THERE IS REASON TO SUPPOSE WAS GIVEN TO THEM BEFORE THEIR RECEPTION INTO THE CANON,
[5] THEY
HAVE NEVER SINCE LOST. HOWEVER MUCH THEIR PLACE HAS CHANGED IN THE ORDER OF THE BOOKS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT, HOWEVER
MUCH THEIR OWN INTERNAL ARRANGEMENT HAS DIFFERED, THE TWELVE HAVE ALWAYS STOOD TOGETHER. THERE HAS BEEN EVERY
TEMPTATION TO SCATTER THEM BECAUSE OF THEIR VARIOUS DATES. YET THEY NEVER HAVE BEEN SCATTERED; AND IN SPITE OF THE FACT
THAT THEY HAVE NOT PRESERVED THEIR COMMON TITLE IN ANY BIBLE OUTSIDE THE HEBREW, THAT TITLE HAS LIVED ON IN LITERATURE AND
COMMON TALK. THUS THE GREEK CANON OMITS IT; BUT GREEK JEWS AND CHRISTIANS ALWAYS COUNTED THE BOOKS AS ONE
volume,[6] CALLING THEM "THE TWELVE PROPHETS," OR "THE TWELVE-PROPHET" BOOK.
[7]. IT WAS THE LATINS WHO DESIGNATED
THEM "THE MINOR PROPHETS": "ON ACCOUNT OF THEIR BREVITY AS COMPARED WITH THOSE WHO ARE CALLED THE MAJOR BECAUSE OF
THEIR AMPLER VOLUMES."
[8] AND THIS NAME HAS PASSED INTO MOST MODERN LANGUAGES,
[9] INCLUDING OUR OWN. BUT
SURELY IT IS
better to revert to the original, canonical and unambiguous title of "The Twelve."
THE COLLECTION AND ARRANGEMENT OF "THE TWELVE" ARE MATTERS OF OBSCURITY, FROM WHICH, HOWEVER, THREE OR FOUR FACTS
EMERGE THAT ARE TOLERABLY CERTAIN. THE INSEPARABLENESS OF THE BOOKS IS A PROOF OF THE ANCIENT DATE OF THEIR UNION. THEY
MUST HAVE BEEN PUT TOGETHER BEFORE THEY WERE RECEIVED INTO THE CANON. THE CANON OF THE PROPHETS—JOSHUA TO SECOND
KINGS AND ISAIAH TO MALACHI—WAS CLOSED BY 200
B.C. AT THE LATEST, AND PERHAPS AS EARLY AS 250; BUT IF WE HAVE (AS
SEEMS PROBABLE) PORTIONS OF "THE TWELVE,"
[10] WHICH MUST BE ASSIGNED TO A LITTLE LATER THAN 300, THIS MAY BE HELD TO
PROVE THAT THE WHOLE COLLECTION CANNOT HAVE LONG PRECEDED THE FIXING OF THE CANON OF THE PROPHETS. ON THE OTHER HAND,
THE FACT THAT THESE LATEST PIECES HAVE NOT BEEN PLACED UNDER A TITLE OF THEIR OWN, BUT ARE ATTACHED TO THE BOOK OF
ZECHARIAH, IS PRETTY SUFFICIENT EVIDENCE THAT THEY WERE ADDED AFTER THE COLLECTION AND FIXTURE OF TWELVE BOOKS—A ROUND
NUMBER WHICH THERE WOULD BE EVERY DISPOSITION NOT TO DISTURB. THAT WOULD GIVE US FOR THE DATE OF THE FIRST EDITION (SO TO
SPEAK) OF OUR TWELVE SOME YEAR BEFORE 300; AND FOR THE DATE OF THE SECOND EDITION SOME YEAR TOWARDS 250. THIS IS A
QUESTION, HOWEVER, WHICH MAY BE RESERVED FOR FINAL DECISION AFTER WE HAVE EXAMINED THE DATE OF THE SEPARATE BOOKS,
AND ESPECIALLY OF JOEL AND THE SECOND HALF OF ZECHARIAH. THAT THERE WAS A PREVIOUS COLLECTION, AS EARLY AS THE EXILE, OF
THE BOOKS WRITTEN BEFORE THEN, MAY BE REGARDED AS MORE THAN PROBABLE. BUT WE HAVE NO MEANS OF FIXING ITS EXACT LIMITS.
WHY THE TWELVE WERE ALL ULTIMATELY PUT TOGETHER IS REASONABLY SUGGESTED BY
JEWISH WRITERS. THEY ARE SMALL, AND, AS
SEPARATE ROLLS, MIGHT HAVE BEEN LOST.
[11] IT IS POSSIBLE THAT THE DESIRE OF THE ROUND NUMBER TWELVE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE
ADMISSION OF JONAH, A BOOK VERY DIFFERENT IN FORM FROM ALL THE OTHERS; JUST AS WE HAVE HINTED THAT THE FACT OF THERE BEING
ALREADY TWELVE MAY ACCOUNT FOR THE ATTACHMENT OF THE LATE FRAGMENTS TO THE BOOK OF ZECHARIAH. BUT ALL THIS IS ONLY TO
guess, where we have no means of certain knowledge.
"THE BOOK OF THE TWELVE" HAS NOT ALWAYS HELD THE PLACE WHICH IT NOW OCCUPIES IN THE HEBREW CANON, AT THE END OF THE
PROPHETS. THE RABBIS TAUGHT THAT HOSEA, BUT FOR THE COMPARATIVE SMALLNESS OF HIS PROPHECY, SHOULD HAVE STOOD FIRST OF ALL
THE WRITING PROPHETS, OF WHOM THEY REGARDED HIM AS THE OLDEST.
[12] AND DOUBTLESS IT WAS FOR THE SAME CHRONOLOGICAL
REASONS, THAT EARLY CHRISTIAN CATALOGUES OF THE SCRIPTURES, AND VARIOUS EDITIONS OF THE SEPTUAGINT, PLACED THE WHOLE OF
"The Twelve" in front of Isaiah.[13]
THE INTERNAL ARRANGEMENT OF "THE TWELVE" IN OUR ENGLISH BIBLE IS THE SAME AS THAT OF THE HEBREW CANON, AND WAS
PROBABLY DETERMINED BY WHAT THE COMPILERS THOUGHT TO BE THE RESPECTIVE AGES OF THE BOOKS. THUS, FIRST WE HAVE SIX, ALL
SUPPOSED TO BE OF THE EARLIER ASSYRIAN PERIOD, BEFORE 700—HOSEA, JOEL, AMOS, OBADIAH, JONAH AND MICAH; THEN THREE
from the late Assyrian and the Babylonian periods—Nahum, Habbakuk and Zephaniah; and then three from the Persian
PERIOD AFTER THE EXILE—HAGGAI, ZECHARIAH AND MALACHI. THE SEPTUAGINT HAVE ALTERED THE ORDER OF THE FIRST SIX, ARRANGING
HOSEA, AMOS, MICAH, JOEL AND OBADIAH ACCORDING TO THEIR SIZE, AND SETTING JONAH AFTER THEM, PROBABLY BECAUSE OF HIS
different form. The remaining six are left as in the Hebrew.
RECENT CRITICISM, HOWEVER, HAS MADE IT CLEAR THAT THE BIBLICAL ORDER OF "THE TWELVE PROPHETS" IS NO MORE THAN A VERY
ROUGH APPROXIMATION TO THE ORDER OF THEIR REAL DATES; AND, AS IT IS OBVIOUSLY BEST FOR US TO FOLLOW IN THEIR HISTORICAL
SUCCESSION PROPHECIES, WHICH ILLUSTRATE THE WHOLE HISTORY OF PROPHECY FROM ITS RISE WITH AMOS TO ITS FALL WITH MALACHI AND
HIS SUCCESSORS, I PROPOSE TO DO THIS. DETAILED PROOFS OF THE SEPARATE DATES MUST BE LEFT TO EACH BOOK. ALL THAT IS NEEDFUL
[Pg 3]
[Pg 4]
[Pg 5]
[Pg 6]
[Pg 7]
here is a general statement of the order.
OF THE FIRST SIX PROPHETS THE DATES OF AMOS, HOSEA, AND MICAH (BUT OF THE LATTER'S BOOK IN PART ONLY) ARE CERTAIN. THE
JEWS HAVE BEEN ABLE TO DEFEND HOSEA'S PRIORITY ONLY ON FANCIFUL GROUNDS.
[14] WHETHER OR NOT HE QUOTES FROM AMOS, HIS
HISTORICAL ALLUSIONS ARE MORE RECENT. WITH THE EXCEPTION OF A FEW FRAGMENTS INCORPORATED BY LATER AUTHORS, THE BOOK OF
AMOS IS THUS THE EARLIEST EXAMPLE OF PROPHETIC LITERATURE, AND WE TAKE IT FIRST. THE DATE WE SHALL SEE IS ABOUT 755. HOSEA
BEGINS FIVE OR TEN YEARS LATER, AND MICAH JUST BEFORE 722. THE THREE ARE IN EVERY RESPECT—ORIGINALITY,
COMPREHENSIVENESS, INFLUENCE UPON OTHER PROPHETS—THE GREATEST OF OUR TWELVE, AND WILL THEREFORE BE TREATED WITH MOST
detail, occupying the whole of the first volume.
THE REST OF THE FIRST SIX ARE OBADIAH, JOEL AND JONAH.
BUT THE BOOK OF OBADIAH, ALTHOUGH IT OPENS WITH AN EARLY ORACLE
AGAINST EDOM, IS IN ITS PRESENT FORM FROM AFTER THE EXILE. THE BOOK OF JOEL IS OF UNCERTAIN DATE, BUT, AS WE SHALL SEE, THE
GREAT PROBABILITY IS THAT IT IS LATE; AND THE BOOK OF JONAH BELONGS TO A FORM OF LITERATURE SO DIFFERENT FROM THE OTHERS THAT
we may, most conveniently, treat of it last.
THIS LEAVES US TO FOLLOW MICAH, AT THE END OF THE EIGHTH CENTURY, WITH THE GROUP ZEPHANIAH, NAHUM AND HABAKKUK FROM
THE SECOND HALF OF THE SEVENTH CENTURY; AND FINALLY TO TAKE IN THEIR ORDER THE POST-EXILIC HAGGAI, ZECHARIAH I.-IX., MALACHI,
and the other writings which we feel obliged to place about or even after that date.
ONE OTHER WORD IS NEEDFUL. THIS ASSIGNMENT OF THE VARIOUS BOOKS TO DIFFERENT DATES IS NOT TO BE HELD AS IMPLYING THAT THE
WHOLE OF A BOOK BELONGS TO SUCH A DATE OR TO THE AUTHOR WHOSE NAME IT BEARS. WE SHALL FIND THAT HANDS HAVE BEEN BUSY
WITH THE TEXTS OF THE BOOKS LONG AFTER THE AUTHORS OF THESE MUST HAVE PASSED AWAY; THAT BESIDES EARLY FRAGMENTS
INCORPORATED BY LATER WRITERS, PROPHETS OF ISRAEL'S NEW DAWN MITIGATED THE JUDGMENTS AND LIGHTENED THE GLOOM OF THE
WATCHMEN OF HER NIGHT; THAT HERE AND THERE ARE PASSAGES WHICH ARE EVIDENTLY INTRUSIONS, BOTH BECAUSE THEY INTERRUPT THE
ARGUMENT AND BECAUSE THEY REFLECT A MUCH LATER HISTORICAL ENVIRONMENT THAN THEIR CONTEXT. THIS, OF COURSE, WILL REQUIRE
DISCUSSION IN EACH CASE, AND SUCH DISCUSSION WILL BE GIVEN. THE TEXT WILL BE SUBJECTED TO AN INDEPENDENT EXAMINATION.
SOME PASSAGES HITHERTO QUESTIONED WE MAY FIND TO BE UNJUSTLY SO; OTHERS NOT HITHERTO QUESTIONED WE MAY SEE REASON TO
SUSPECT. BUT IN ANY CASE WE SHALL KEEP IN MIND, THAT THE RESULTS OF AN INDEPENDENT INQUIRY ARE UNCERTAIN; AND THAT IN THIS
NEW CRITICISM OF THE PROPHETS, WHICH
IS COMPARATIVELY RECENT, WE CANNOT HOPE TO ARRIVE FOR SOME TIME AT SO GENERAL A
consensus, as is being rapidly reached in the far older and more elaborated criticism of the Pentateuch.[15]
SUCH IS THE EXTENT AND ORDER OF THE JOURNEY WHICH LIES BEFORE US. IF IT IS NOT TO THE VERY SUMMITS OF ISRAEL'S OUTLOOK THAT
WE CLIMB—ISAIAH, JEREMIAH AND THE GREAT PROPHET OF THE EXILE—WE ARE YET TO TRAVERSE THE RANGE OF PROPHECY FROM
BEGINNING TO END. WE START WITH ITS FIRST ABRUPT ELEVATIONS IN AMOS. WE ARE CARRIED BY THE SIDE OF ISAIAH AND JEREMIAH,
YET AT A LOWER ALTITUDE, ON TO THE EXILE. WITH THE RETURNED ISRAEL WE PURSUE AN ALMOST IMMEDIATE RISE TO VISION, AND THEN
BY MALACHI AND OTHERS ARE CONVEYED DOWN DWINDLING SLOPES TO THE VERY END. BEYOND THE LAND IS FLAT. THOUGH PSALMS ARE
SUNG AND BRAVE DEEDS DONE, AND FAITH IS STRONG AND BRIGHT, THERE IS NO HEIGHT OF OUTLOOK;
there is no more any
prophet[16] in Israel.
BUT OUR "TWELVE" DO MORE THAN THUS CARRY US FROM BEGINNING TO END OF THE PROPHETIC PERIOD. OF SECOND RANK AS ARE
MOST OF THE HEIGHTS OF THIS MOUNTAIN RANGE, THEY YET BRING FORTH AND SPEED ON THEIR WAY NOT A FEW OF THE STREAMS OF LIVING
WATER WHICH HAVE NOURISHED LATER AGES, AND ARE FLOWING TO-DAY. IMPETUOUS CATARACTS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS—
let it roll on
like water, and justice as an everlasting stream; THE IRREPRESSIBLE LOVE OF GOD TO SINFUL MEN; THE PERSEVERANCE AND
PURSUITS OF HIS GRACE; HIS MERCIES THAT FOLLOW THE EXILE AND THE OUTCAST; HIS TRUTH THAT GOES FORTH RICHLY UPON THE
HEATHEN;
THE HOPE OF THE SAVIOUR OF MANKIND; THE OUTPOURING OF THE SPIRIT; COUNSELS OF PATIENCE; IMPULSES OF TENDERNESS AND OF
HEALING; MELODIES INNUMERABLE,—ALL SPRANG FROM THESE LOWER HILLS OF PROPHECY, AND SPRANG SO STRONGLY THAT THE WORLD
hears and feels them still.
AND FROM THE HEIGHTS OF OUR PRESENT PILGRIMAGE THERE ARE ALSO CLEAR THOSE GREAT VISIONS OF THE STARS AND THE DAWN, OF THE
SEA AND THE STORM, CONCERNING WHICH IT IS TRUE, THAT AS LONG AS MEN LIVE THEY SHALL SEEK OUT THE PLACES WHENCE THEY CAN
be seen, and thank God for His prophets.
CHAPTER II
THE PROPHET IN EARLY ISRAEL
OUR "TWELVE PROPHETS" WILL CARRY US, AS WE HAVE SEEN, ACROSS THE WHOLE EXTENT OF THE PROPHETICAL PERIOD—THE PERIOD
WHEN PROPHECY BECAME LITERATURE, ASSUMING THE FORM AND RISING TO THE INTENSITY OF AN IMPERISHABLE INFLUENCE ON THE
WORLD. THE EARLIEST OF THE TWELVE, AMOS AND HOSEA, WERE THE INAUGURATORS OF THIS PERIOD. THEY WERE NOT ONLY THE FIRST
[Pg 8]
[Pg 9]
[Pg 10]
[Pg 11]
(SO FAR AS WE KNOW) TO COMMIT PROPHECY TO WRITING, BUT WE FIND IN THEM THE GERMS OF ALL ITS SUBSEQUENT DEVELOPMENT.
YET AMOS AND HOSEA WERE NOT UNFATHERED. BEHIND THEM LAY AN OLDER DISPENSATION, AND THEIR OWN WAS PARTLY A PRODUCT
OF THIS, AND PARTLY A REVOLT AGAINST IT. AMOS SAYS OF HIMSELF:
The Lord hath spoken, who can but prophesy?—but
AGAIN: No prophet I, nor prophet's son! WHO WERE THOSE EARLIER PROPHETS, WHOSE OFFICE AMOS ASSUMED WHILE
REPUDIATING THEIR SPIRIT—WHOSE NAME HE ABJURED, YET COULD NOT ESCAPE FROM IT? AND, WHILE WE ARE ABOUT THE MATTER,
what do we mean by "prophet" in general?
IN VULGAR USE THE NAME "PROPHET" HAS DEGENERATED TO THE MEANING OF "ONE WHO FORETELLS THE FUTURE." OF THIS MEANING IT IS,
PERHAPS, THE FIRST DUTY OF EVERY STUDENT OF PROPHECY EARNESTLY AND STUBBORNLY TO RID HIMSELF. IN ITS NATIVE GREEK TONGUE
"PROPHET" MEANT NOT "ONE WHO SPEAKS BEFORE," BUT "ONE WHO SPEAKS FOR, OR ON BEHALF OF, ANOTHER." AT THE DELPHIC
ORACLE "THE PROPHĒTĒS" WAS THE TITLE OF THE OFFICIAL, WHO RECEIVED THE UTTERANCES OF THE FRENZIED PYTHONESS AND
EXPOUNDED THEM TO THE PEOPLE;
[17] BUT PLATO SAYS THAT THIS IS A MISUSE OF THE WORD, AND THAT THE TRUE PROPHET IS THE
INSPIRED PERSON HIMSELF, HE WHO IS IN COMMUNICATION WITH THE DEITY AND WHO SPEAKS DIRECTLY FOR THE DEITY.
[18] SO
TIRESIAS, THE SEER, IS CALLED BY PINDAR THE "PROPHET" OR "INTERPRETER OF ZEUS,"
[19] AND PLATO EVEN STYLES POETS "THE
PROPHETS OF THE MUSES."
[20] IT IS IN THIS SENSE THAT WE MUST THINK OF THE "PROPHET" OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. HE IS A SPEAKER
FOR GOD. THE SHARER OF GOD'S COUNSELS, AS AMOS CALLS HIM, HE BECOMES THE BEARER AND PREACHER OF GOD'S WORD.
PREDICTION OF THE FUTURE IS ONLY A PART, AND
OFTEN A SUBORDINATE AND ACCIDENTAL PART, OF AN OFFICE WHOSE FULL FUNCTION IS TO
DECLARE THE CHARACTER AND THE WILL OF GOD. BUT THE PROPHET DOES THIS IN NO SYSTEMATIC OR ABSTRACT FORM. HE BRINGS HIS
REVELATION POINT BY POINT, AND IN CONNECTION WITH SOME OCCASION IN THE HISTORY OF HIS PEOPLE, OR SOME PHASE OF THEIR
CHARACTER. HE IS NOT A PHILOSOPHER NOR A THEOLOGIAN WITH A SYSTEM OF DOCTRINE (AT LEAST BEFORE EZEKIEL), BUT THE
MESSENGER AND HERALD OF GOD AT SOME CRISIS IN THE LIFE OR CONDUCT OF HIS PEOPLE. HIS MESSAGE IS NEVER OUT OF TOUCH WITH
EVENTS. THESE FORM EITHER THE SUBJECT-MATTER OR THE PROOF OR THE EXECUTION OF EVERY ORACLE HE UTTERS. IT IS, THEREFORE, GOD
NOT MERELY AS TRUTH, BUT FAR MORE AS PROVIDENCE, WHOM THE PROPHET REVEALS. AND ALTHOUGH THAT PROVIDENCE INCLUDES THE
FULL DESTINY OF ISRAEL AND MANKIND, THE PROPHET BRINGS THE NEWS OF IT, FOR THE MOST PART, PIECE BY PIECE, WITH REFERENCE TO
SOME PRESENT SIN OR DUTY, OR SOME IMPENDING CRISIS OR CALAMITY. YET HE DOES ALL THIS, NOT MERELY BECAUSE THE WORD
NEEDED FOR THE DAY HAS BEEN COMMITTED TO HIM BY ITSELF, AND AS IF HE WERE ONLY ITS MECHANICAL VEHICLE; BUT BECAUSE HE
HAS COME UNDER THE OVERWHELMING CONVICTION OF GOD'S PRESENCE AND OF HIS CHARACTER, A CONVICTION OFTEN SO STRONG THAT
God's word breaks through him and God speaks in the first person to the people.
1. From the Earliest Times till Samuel.
THERE WAS NO ANCIENT PEOPLE BUT BELIEVED IN THE POWER OF CERTAIN PERSONAGES TO CONSULT THE DEITY AND TO REVEAL HIS WILL.
EVERY MAN COULD SACRIFICE; BUT NOT EVERY MAN COULD RENDER IN RETURN THE ORACLE OF GOD. THIS PERTAINED TO SELECT
INDIVIDUALS OR ORDERS. SO THE PROPHET SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN AN OLDER SPECIALIST THAN THE PRIEST, THOUGH IN EVERY TRIBE HE
frequently combined the latter's functions with his own.[21]
THE MATTERS ON WHICH ANCIENT MAN CONSULTED GOD WERE AS WIDE AS LIFE. BUT NATURALLY AT FIRST, IN A RUDE STATE OF SOCIETY
AND AT A LOW STAGE OF MENTAL DEVELOPMENT, IT WAS IN REGARD TO THE MATERIAL DEFENCE AND NECESSITIES OF LIFE, THE BARE LAW
AND ORDER, THAT MEN ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY SOUGHT THE DIVINE WILL. AND THE WHOLE HISTORY OF PROPHECY IS JUST THE EFFORT TO
SUBSTITUTE FOR THESE ELEMENTARY PROVISIONS A MORE PERSONAL STANDARD OF THE MORAL LAW, AND MORE SPIRITUAL IDEALS OF THE
Divine Grace.
BY THE SEMITIC RACE—TO WHICH WE MAY NOW CONFINE OURSELVES, SINCE ISRAEL BELONGED TO IT—DEITY WAS WORSHIPPED, IN
THE MAIN, AS THE GOD OF A TRIBE. EVERY SEMITIC TRIBE HAD ITS OWN GOD; IT WOULD APPEAR THAT THERE WAS NO GOD WITHOUT A
tribe:[22] the traces of belief in a supreme and abstract Deity are few and ineffectual. The tribe was the medium by which
THE GOD MADE HIMSELF KNOWN, AND BECAME AN EFFECTIVE POWER ON EARTH: THE GOD WAS THE PATRON OF THE TRIBE, THE SUPREME
MAGISTRATE AND THE LEADER IN WAR. THE PIETY HE DEMANDED WAS LITTLE MORE THAN LOYALTY TO RITUAL; THE MORALITY HE ENFORCED
WAS ONLY A MATTER OF POLICE. HE TOOK NO COGNISANCE OF THE CHARACTER OR INNER THOUGHTS OF THE INDIVIDUAL. BUT THE TRIBE
believed him to stand IN VERY CLOSE CONNECTION WITH ALL THE PRACTICAL INTERESTS OF THEIR COMMON LIFE. THEY ASKED OF HIM THE
DETECTION OF CRIMINALS, THE DISCOVERY OF LOST PROPERTY, THE SETTLEMENT OF CIVIL SUITS, SOMETIMES WHEN THE CROPS SHOULD BE
sown, and always when war should be waged and by what tactics.
THE MEANS BY WHICH THE PROPHET CONSULTED THE DEITY ON THESE SUBJECTS WERE FOR THE MOST PART PRIMITIVE AND RUDE. THEY
MAY BE SUMMED UP UNDER TWO KINDS: VISIONS EITHER THROUGH FALLING INTO ECSTASY OR BY DREAMING IN SLEEP, AND SIGNS OR
OMENS. BOTH KINDS ARE INSTANCED IN BALAAM.
[23] OF THE SIGNS SOME WERE NATURAL, LIKE THE WHISPER OF TREES, THE FLIGHT OF
BIRDS, THE PASSAGE OF CLOUDS, THE MOVEMENTS OF STARS. OTHERS WERE ARTIFICIAL, LIKE THE CASTING OR DRAWING OF LOTS. OTHERS
WERE BETWEEN THESE, LIKE THE SHAPE ASSUMED BY THE ENTRAILS OF THE SACRIFICED ANIMALS WHEN THROWN ON THE GROUND. AGAIN,
THE PROPHET WAS OFTEN OBLIGED TO DO SOMETHING WONDERFUL IN THE PEOPLE'S SIGHT, IN ORDER TO CONVINCE THEM OF HIS
AUTHORITY. IN BIBLICAL LANGUAGE HE HAD TO WORK A MIRACLE OR GIVE A SIGN. ONE INSTANCE THROWS A FLOOD OF LIGHT ON THIS
HABITUAL EXPECTANCY OF THE SEMITIC MIND. THERE WAS ONCE AN ARAB CHIEF, WHO WISHED TO CONSULT A DISTANT SOOTHSAYER AS
TO THE GUILT OF A DAUGHTER. BUT BEFORE HE WOULD TRUST THE SEER TO GIVE HIM THE RIGHT ANSWER TO SUCH A QUESTION, HE MADE
HIM DISCOVER A GRAIN OF CORN WHICH HE HAD CONCEALED ABOUT HIS HORSE.
[24] HE REQUIRED THE PHYSICAL SIGN BEFORE HE WOULD
accept the moral judgment.
NOW, TO US THE CRUDENESS OF THE MEANS EMPLOYED,
THE OPPORTUNITIES OF FRAUD, THE INADEQUACY OF THE TESTS FOR SPIRITUAL
ENDS, ARE VERY OBVIOUS. BUT DO NOT LET US, THEREFORE, MISS THE NUMEROUS MORAL OPPORTUNITIES WHICH LAY BEFORE THE
[Pg 12]
[Pg 13]
[Pg 14]
[Pg 15]
[Pg 16]
PROPHET EVEN AT THAT EARLY STAGE OF HIS EVOLUTION. HE WAS TRUSTED TO SPEAK IN THE NAME OF DEITY. THROUGH HIM MEN
BELIEVED IN GOD AND IN THE POSSIBILITY OF A REVELATION. THEY SOUGHT FROM HIM THE DISCRIMINATION OF EVIL FROM GOOD. THE
HIGHEST POSSIBILITIES OF SOCIAL MINISTRY LAY OPEN TO HIM: THE TRIBAL EXISTENCE OFTEN HUNG ON HIS WORD FOR PEACE OR WAR; HE
WAS THE MOUTH OF JUSTICE, THE REBUKE OF EVIL, THE CHAMPION OF THE WRONGED. WHERE SUCH OPPORTUNITIES WERE PRESENT, CAN
WE IMAGINE THE SPIRIT OF GOD TO HAVE BEEN ABSENT—THE SPIRIT WHO SEEKS MEN MORE THAN THEY SEEK HIM, AND AS HE
CONDESCENDS TO USE THEIR POOR LANGUAGE FOR RELIGION MUST ALSO HAVE STOOPED TO THE PICTURE LANGUAGE, TO THE RUDE
instruments, symbols and sacraments, of their early faith?
IN AN OFFICE OF SUCH MINGLED POSSIBILITIES EVERYTHING DEPENDED—AS WE SHALL FIND IT DEPEND TO THE VERY END OF PROPHECY
—ON THE MORAL INSIGHT AND CHARACTER OF THE PROPHET HIMSELF, ON HIS CONCEPTION OF GOD AND WHETHER HE WAS SO TRUE TO
THIS AS TO OVERCOME HIS PROFESSIONAL TEMPTATIONS TO FRAUD AND AVARICE, MALICE TOWARDS INDIVIDUALS, SUBSERVIENCE TO THE
POWERFUL, OR, WORST SNARES OF ALL, THE SLOTHFULNESS AND INSINCERITY OF ROUTINE. WE SEE THIS MORAL ISSUE PUT VERY CLEARLY IN
such a story as that of Balaam, or in such a career as that of Mohammed.
So much for the Semitic soothsayer in general. Now let us turn to Israel.
AMONG THE HEBREWS THE man of God,[25] TO USE HIS WIDEST DESIGNATION, IS AT FIRST CALLED
Seer,[26] OR Gazer,[27] THE
WORD WHICH BALAAM USES OF HIMSELF. IN CONSULTING THE DIVINE WILL HE EMPLOYS THE SAME EXTERNAL MEANS, HE OFFERS THE
PEOPLE FOR THEIR EVIDENCE THE SAME SIGNS, AS DO THE SEERS OR SOOTHSAYERS OF OTHER SEMITIC TRIBES. HE GAINS INFLUENCE BY
THE MIRACLES, the wonderful things, WHICH HE DOES.[28] MOSES HIMSELF IS REPRESENTED AFTER THIS FASHION. HE MEETS THE
MAGICIANS OF EGYPT ON THEIR OWN LEVEL. HIS USE OF
rods; THE HOLDING UP OF HIS HANDS THAT ISRAEL MAY PREVAIL AGAINST
AMALEQ; JOSHUA'S CASTING OF LOTS TO DISCOVER A CRIMINAL; SAMUEL'S DREAM IN THE SANCTUARY; HIS DISCOVERY FOR A FEE OF THE
LOST ASSES OF SAUL; DAVID AND THE IMAGES IN HIS HOUSE, THE EPHOD HE CONSULTED; THE SIGN TO GO TO BATTLE
what time thou
hearest the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees; SOLOMON'S INDUCEMENT OF DREAMS BY SLEEPING IN THE
SANCTUARY AT GIBEAH,—THESE ARE A FEW OF THE MANY PROOFS, THAT EARLY PROPHECY IN ISRAEL EMPLOYED NOT ONLY THE METHODS
BUT EVEN MUCH OF THE FURNITURE OF THE KINDRED SEMITIC RELIGIONS. BUT THEN THOSE TOOLS AND METHODS WERE AT THE SAME TIME
ACCOMPANIED BY THE NOBLE OPPORTUNITIES OF THE PROPHETIC OFFICE TO WHICH I HAVE JUST ALLUDED—OPPORTUNITIES OF RELIGIOUS
AND SOCIAL MINISTRY—AND, STILL MORE, THESE OPPORTUNITIES WERE AT THE DISPOSAL OF MORAL INFLUENCES WHICH, IT IS A MATTER OF
HISTORY, WERE NOT FOUND IN ANY OTHER SEMITIC RELIGION THAN ISRAEL'S. HOWEVER YOU WILL EXPLAIN IT, THAT DIVINE SPIRIT, WHICH
we have felt unable to conceive as absent from any Semitic prophet who truly sought after God, that Light which lighteth
every man who cometh into the world, was present to an unparalleled degree with the early prophets of Israel. He came
TO INDIVIDUALS, AND TO THE NATION AS A WHOLE, IN EVENTS AND IN INFLUENCES WHICH MAY BE SUMMED UP AS THE IMPRESSION OF
THE CHARACTER OF THEIR NATIONAL GOD, JEHOVAH: TO USE BIBLICAL LANGUAGE, AS
Jehovah's spirit AND power. IT IS TRUE THAT IN
MANY WAYS THE JEHOVAH OF EARLY ISRAEL REMINDS US OF OTHER SEMITIC DEITIES. LIKE SOME OF THEM HE APPEARS WITH THUNDER
AND LIGHTNING; LIKE ALL OF THEM HE IS THE GOD OF ONE TRIBE WHO ARE HIS PECULIAR PEOPLE. HE BEARS THE SAME TITLES—MELEK,
Adon, Baal (King, Lord, Possessor). HE IS PROPITIATED BY THE SAME OFFERINGS. TO CHOOSE ONE STRIKING INSTANCE, CAPTIVES
AND SPOIL OF WAR ARE SACRIFICED TO HIM WITH THE SAME RELENTLESSNESS, AND BY A PROCESS WHICH HAS EVEN THE SAME NAMES
GIVEN TO IT, AS IN THE VOTIVE INSCRIPTIONS OF ISRAEL'S HEATHEN NEIGHBOURS.
[29] YET, NOTWITHSTANDING ALL THESE ELEMENTS, THE
RELIGION OF JEHOVAH FROM THE VERY FIRST EVINCED, BY THE CONFESSION OF ALL CRITICS, AN ETHICAL FORCE SHARED BY NO OTHER
SEMITIC CREED. FROM THE FIRST THERE WAS IN IT THE PROMISE AND THE POTENCY OF THAT SUBLIME MONOTHEISM, WHICH IN THE
PERIOD OF OUR "TWELVE" IT AFTERWARDS REACHED.
[30] ITS EARLIEST EFFECTS OF COURSE WERE CHIEFLY POLITICAL: IT WELDED THE TWELVE
TRIBES INTO THE UNITY OF A NATION; IT PRESERVED THEM AS ONE AMID THE MANY TEMPTATIONS TO SCATTER ALONG THOSE DIVERGENT
lines of culture and of faith, which the geography of their country placed so attractively before them.[31] IT TAUGHT THEM TO
PREFER RELIGIOUS LOYALTY TO MATERIAL ADVANTAGE, AND SO INSPIRED THEM WITH HIGH MOTIVES FOR SELF-SACRIFICE AND
EVERY OTHER
DUTY OF PATRIOTISM. BUT IT DID EVEN BETTER THAN THUS TEACH THEM TO BEAR ONE ANOTHER'S BURDENS. IT INSPIRED THEM TO CARE FOR
ONE ANOTHER'S SINS. THE LAST CHAPTERS OF THE BOOK OF JUDGES PROVE HOW STRONG A NATIONAL CONSCIENCE THERE WAS IN EARLY
ISRAEL. EVEN THEN ISRAEL WAS A MORAL, AS WELL AS A POLITICAL, UNITY. GRADUALLY THERE GREW UP, BUT STILL UNWRITTEN, A BODY OF
TORAH, OR REVEALED LAW, WHICH, THOUGH ITS FRAMEWORK WAS THE COMMON CUSTOM OF THE SEMITIC RACE, WAS INSPIRED BY
ideals of humanity and justice not elsewhere in that race discernible by us.
WHEN WE ANALYSE THIS ETHICAL DISTINCTION OF EARLY ISRAEL, THIS INDUBITABLE PROGRESS WHICH THE NATION WERE MAKING WHILE THE
REST OF THEIR WORLD WAS MORALLY STAGNANT, WE FIND IT TO BE DUE TO THEIR IMPRESSIONS OF THE CHARACTER OF THEIR GOD. THIS
CHARACTER DID NOT AFFECT THEM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS ONLY. AT FIRST IT WAS EVEN A MORE WONDERFUL GRACE. JEHOVAH HAD CHOSEN
THEM WHEN THEY WERE NO PEOPLE, HAD REDEEMED THEM FROM SERVITUDE, HAD BROUGHT THEM TO THEIR LAND; HAD BORNE WITH
THEIR STUBBORNNESS, AND HAD FORGIVEN THEIR INFIDELITIES. SUCH A CHARACTER WAS PARTLY MANIFEST IN THE GREAT EVENTS OF THEIR
HISTORY, AND PARTLY COMMUNICATED ITSELF TO THEIR FINEST PERSONALITIES—AS THE SPIRIT OF GOD DOES COMMUNICATE WITH THE
SPIRIT OF MAN MADE IN HIS IMAGE. THOSE PERSONALITIES WERE THE EARLY PROPHETS FROM MOSES TO SAMUEL. THEY INSPIRED THE
NATION TO BELIEVE IN GOD'S PURPOSES FOR ITSELF; THEY RALLIED IT TO WAR FOR THE COMMON FAITH, AND WAR WAS THEN THE PITCH OF
SELF-SACRIFICE; THEY GAVE JUSTICE TO IT IN GOD'S NAME, AND REBUKED ITS SINFULNESS WITHOUT SPARING. CRITICISM HAS PROVED THAT
WE DO NOT KNOW NEARLY SO MUCH ABOUT THOSE FIRST PROPHETS, AS PERHAPS WE THOUGHT WE DID. BUT UNDER THEIR GOD THEY
MADE ISRAEL. OUT OF THEIR WORK GREW
THE MONOTHEISM OF THEIR SUCCESSORS, WHOM WE ARE NOW TO STUDY, AND LATER THE
CHRISTIANITY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. FOR MYSELF I CANNOT BUT BELIEVE, THAT IN THE INFLUENCE OF JEHOVAH WHICH ISRAEL OWNED
in those early times, there was the authentic revelation of a real Being.
2. From Samuel to Elisha.
[Pg 17]
[Pg 18]
[Pg 19]
[Pg 20]
OF THE OLDEST ORDER OF HEBREW PROPHECY, SAMUEL WAS THE LAST REPRESENTATIVE. TILL HIS TIME, WE ARE TOLD, THE PROPHET IN
ISRAEL WAS KNOWN AS THE SEER,
[32] BUT NOW, WITH OTHER TEMPERS AND OTHER HABITS, A NEW ORDER APPEARS, WHOSE NAME—
and that means to a certain extent their spirit—is to displace the older name and the older spirit.
WHEN SAMUEL ANOINTED SAUL HE BADE HIM, FOR A SIGN THAT HE WAS CHOSEN OF THE LORD, GO FORTH TO MEET
a company of
prophets—NEBI'ÎM, THE SINGULAR IS NABI'—COMING DOWN FROM THE HIGH PLACE OR SANCTUARY WITH VIOLS, DRUMS AND PIPES,
AND prophesying. There, HE ADDED, the spirit of Jehovah shall come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with
them, and shalt be turned into another man. SO IT HAPPENED; AND THE PEOPLE
said one to another, What is this that
is come to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?[33] ANOTHER STORY, PROBABLY FROM ANOTHER SOURCE, TELLS
US THAT LATER, WHEN SAUL SENT TROOPS OF MESSENGERS TO THE SANCTUARY AT RAMAH TO TAKE DAVID, THEY SAW
the company of
prophets prophesying and Samuel standing appointed over them, and the spirit of God fell UPON ONE AFTER
ANOTHER OF THE TROOPS; AS UPON SAUL HIMSELF WHEN HE FOLLOWED THEM UP.
And he stripped off his clothes also, and
prophesied before Samuel in like manner, and lay down naked all that day and all that night. Wherefore they
say, Is Saul also among the prophets?[34]
ALL THIS IS VERY DIFFERENT FROM THE HABITS OF THE SEER, WHO HAD HITHERTO REPRESENTED PROPHECY. HE WAS SOLITARY, BUT THESE
WENT ABOUT IN BANDS. THEY WERE FILLED WITH AN INFECTIOUS ENTHUSIASM, BY WHICH THEY EXCITED EACH OTHER AND ALL SENSITIVE
PERSONS WHOM THEY TOUCHED. THEY STIRRED UP THIS ENTHUSIASM BY SINGING, PLAYING UPON INSTRUMENTS, AND DANCING: ITS
RESULTS WERE FRENZY, THE TEARING OF THEIR CLOTHES, AND PROSTRATION. THE SAME PHENOMENA HAVE APPEARED IN EVERY RELIGION
—IN PAGANISM OFTEN, AND SEVERAL TIMES WITHIN CHRISTIANITY. THEY MAY BE WATCHED TO-DAY AMONG THE DERVISHES OF ISLAM,
WHO BY SINGING (AS ONE HAS SEEN THEM IN CAIRO), BY SWAYING OF THEIR BODIES, BY REPEATING THE DIVINE NAME, AND DWELLING
ON THE LOVE AND INEFFABLE POWER OF GOD, WORK THEMSELVES INTO AN EXCITEMENT WHICH ENDS IN PROSTRATION AND OFTEN IN
insensibility.[35] THE WHOLE PROCESS IS DUE TO AN OVERPOWERING SENSE OF THE DEITY—CRUDE AND UNINTELLIGENT IF YOU WILL, BUT
SINCERE AND AUTHENTIC—WHICH SEEMS TO HAUNT THE EARLY STAGES OF ALL RELIGIONS, AND TO LINGER TO THE END WITH THE STAGNANT
AND UNPROGRESSIVE. THE APPEARANCE OF THIS PROPHECY IN ISRAEL HAS GIVEN RISE TO A CONTROVERSY AS TO WHETHER IT WAS PURELY
a NATIVE PRODUCT, OR WAS INDUCED BY INFECTION FROM THE CANAANITE TRIBES AROUND. SUCH QUESTIONS ARE OF LITTLE INTEREST IN
FACE OF THESE FACTS: THAT THE ECSTASY SPRANG UP IN ISRAEL AT A TIME WHEN THE SPIRIT OF THE PEOPLE WAS STIRRED AGAINST THE
PHILISTINES, AND PATRIOTISM AND RELIGION WERE EQUALLY EXCITED; THAT IT IS REPRESENTED AS DUE TO THE SPIRIT OF JEHOVAH; AND
THAT THE LAST OF THE OLD ORDER OF JEHOVAH'S PROPHETS RECOGNISED ITS HARMONY WITH HIS OWN DISPENSATION, PRESIDED OVER IT,
and gave Israel's first king as one of his signs, that he should come under its power. These things being so, it is surprising
THAT A RECENT CRITIC
[36] SHOULD HAVE SEEN IN THE DANCING PROPHETS NOTHING BUT ECCENTRICS INTO WHOSE COMPANY IT WAS
SHAME FOR SO GOOD A MAN AS SAUL TO FALL. HE REACHES THIS CONCLUSION ONLY BY SUPPOSING THAT THE REFLEXIVE VERB USED FOR
THEIR prop...
